Sicard was taken into custody early Thursday morning when police in Toulouse spotted him putting a traffic sign into his car, in which they also found a traffic cone. A breathalyzer test showed him to be intoxicated. Sicard said in a statement on his team's website that the incident happened “after a dinner with friends, I was showed immature and irresponsible behaviour”.

“I want to apologize to all who trust in me and who have shown their support during this time: my family, fans, in addition to the young fans for the bad example that I gave them. Finally, I apologize especially to my team, sponsors, the staff and my colleagues for the damage I've done to our image, so bad and so far from the principles advocated by the Euskadi Euskaltel team.

“I have taken harsh awareness of the need for impeccable behavior, I look towards the future and hope, focusing on sports performance, to forget this episode,” he concluded.